Bob’s Story – The Full-Time Low-Wage Worker

HI! I’m Bob.

I didn’t go to college. I don’t think I’ll be going anytime soon. I’m short a few credits for my high-school graduation. I just had too many obligations. Today I work in a doctor’s office, helping patients prepare to see the doctor.

The government says I’m a Full-Time Low-Wage Worker. It’s higher than the national minimum wage – a little bit. That means I work full-time for $11.95 an hour – about $21,000 every year. I make due, though. We live in public housing – me, my wife, and my two daughters. That’s my family. And I’m proud of them. But I am disappointed in myself. I thought I would do much better at giving them the things they deserve.

I’m not a misfit or lazy or dumb. I just don’t get a break. And I’m not alone. I heard on the news that 43% of people who make my pay didn’t graduate from high school either. So there are a lot of folks like me. I don’t get any cheques from the government. But they are there to help me with housing, school lunches, Medicaid and some food assistance on those months where we just can’t make it. The school covers my daughters’ breakfasts.

My boss said I was good with numbers. I never screw up a medical record and can tally visits, figure out how much time is spend on average with each one, and even predict slow and busy office days. But I can’t do the stuff the book-keeper does, and I can’t prepare fancy reports – mostly because I’m busy. The reports that I can do, I do after my shift. The extra hours help a bit.

But I was reading the other day about how we all depend on data. And I was thinking data just number and knowing what to do with them. It made me wonder if I couldn’t analyze data. I read there a lot of growth in that field, and the salaries are three to five times what I make. I’d live on the easy street if I could just get one of these jobs.

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